


The Promises of a New Year

by SlytherinHermione



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Mild Language, Mild Smut, Ministry of Magic Employee Draco Malfoy, Ministry of Magic Employee Hermione Granger, New Year's Eve, New Year's Fluff, New Year's Kiss, New Years, Pining Draco Malfoy, Pining Hermione Granger, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:40:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22057897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinHermione/pseuds/SlytherinHermione
Summary: Hermione really doesn't want to go to the New Year's Party.Her heart aches and pines for her best friend Draco, but she's too scared to tell him.Tonight, she knows that she has to let him go.Draco has other plans.A New Year's celebration where lovers come together, and are whisked into a New Year full of possibilities and promises.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 104





	The Promises of a New Year

Hermione _really_ didn’t want to go. But, what other choice did she have? 

All her friends were going to be there. Her _best_ friend was going to be there. So, there was nowhere else in the world she’d rather be. 

_He was going to be there. Her best friend was going to be there - so, she’d rather be anywhere else in the world._

How did she get herself into this mess!? Why did she allow herself to fall in love with her best friend?

It had started slowly, and then she fell fast, and hard.

After the war, Harry, Hermione, and Ron had been inseparable. But, as the dust settled, and people did their best to start a new life, a calm and peaceful life, they had each gravitated towards different paths. 

Harry had found himself in his job as an Auror, climbing fast through the ranks of his career. He was equally fast in his family life; knocking Ginny up over the summer of the first year after the war, and they were now living happily ever after at Grimmauld Place. Hermione strongly suspected that Ginny would be avoiding any adult beverages tonight, guessing that she was pregnant again. 

Ron… Well, Ron had found happiness as well, although not with Hermione. The two of them were never destined to be, in any reality, _thank you very much._ The papers and gossip columns would have loved that, - giving poor Ron, the third wheel of the Golden Trio, the happy ending with Hermione - the brains of “Operation - Kill Voldy and Save the World”. 

But anyone could see from miles away, that Hermione and Ron simply were not a good fit. He needed someone easy and motherly, whilst Hermione needed a challenge, _not_ someone she had to coddle and babysit. 

And so it came to be, that Hermione had pushed Ron to seek his happiness with Lavender, his first love, who had barely survived the war, and needed someone to take care of her, as well as someone to take care of. Lavender had subsequently pushed Ron to use his strategic mind to help George with his business, and Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes had been a success since. 

Hermione on the other hand, had done what she’d always planned to do - learn everything she possibly could about the Wizarding world, and finish her education at Hogwarts. 

That is where she had found her best friend. Her soulmate. Her deep and secret love. 

Only one month or so into her eight year of school at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy had been transferred after a short stay in Azkaban.

Through the combined efforts of Harry, Hermione, _and_ Ron, Draco had avoided a life sentence in Azkaban, - all three testifying to his changed nature and beliefs as the war had escalated, as well as the obvious reason for his prejudice, stating that it was a thing that was taught to him. It was specifically Hermione that was discussing Nature versus Nurture in an effort to show that Draco had changed when his world view had been broadened, and that he had started to see the error of the “Pureblood ways”. He did escape a lifetime in Azkaban, but the Wizengamot had sentenced Draco to one month of prison time there, _just in case_ so that he could remember what was waiting for him should he ever think about falling back into what he’d been _nurtured_ to believe. It certainly had done the job. 

After the one, dreadful month, he had been ordered to return to finish his schooling at Hogwarts, with the Ministry expecting him to work for them afterwards for ten years, as a sort of repayment to society. He was to work at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. 

So when Draco Malfoy came to Hogwarts after his month long stint in prison, Hermione had put an effort in befriending him, in an attempt to nurse that good part of him. She figured that, if no one acknowledged and rewarded his good behaviour, he might feel as if it was a wasted effort, and then the world would have a bitter Tom Riddle-in-the-making on their hands.

At first he had not welcomed her friendly advances, not because of prejudice, but because he simply felt that she was stupid for forgiving him for years of bullying. She had shot him down pretty quickly, stating that it was her choice, and who was he to begrudge her wanting to be a forgiving human being? 

Their tentative acquaintance had grown to a strong friendship through focused study sessions in the library, through combined projects where they experimented with Potions, with Transfiguration, with Spells, and even dabbling in Divination just to disprove its validity. 

The friendship had cemented over deep talks during their walks to Hogsmeade, where they shared their deepest fears and highest hopes. 

At the end of Eight year, Hermione had found herself with a new best friend. 

Harry and Ron would always be her best friends as well, but she shared a deeper connection with Draco, that she suspected Harry shared with Ginny, and Ron with Lavender. 

  
  
  
  


..:..::**::..:..

The problem started after school had ended, and both her and Draco had started working for the same department at the Ministry, hers by choice, his forced upon him. 

When she had started to rave about the injustice, and the fact that Draco should have a choice of what he wanted to do with his life, he gently told her that there was nowhere he’d rather be, since she was there with him. 

That had completely short-circuited her brain, and when it restarted, she had started seeing him in a new light. Suddenly, when she looked into his eyes, a blush crept upon her face. When she smelled his cologne, butterflies started to erupt in her belly. When she felt the warmth of his proximity, she could hardly breathe. 

Suddenly, her heart started beating for him. How was it that such an innocent proclamation, said in such a gentle way, could change the whole composition of a human being, from one second to the next?

Draco Malfoy had changed, he had become a better man, he had become a best friend to Hermione Granger, and he had become the man she was utterly, and wholeheartedly in love with. 

The problem was, that he was not in love with her. 

  
  


..:..::**::..:..

After a year of trying to keep their friendship, and not proclaim her love to him, she was at her wits end. 

She was so scared of losing him and his precious friendship, but she was hurting so much inside, her body yearning for him, her _soul_ yearning for something more. 

It was exhausting keeping up a front, hiding her true feelings. It was as if she was acting, living her life as someone else: Hermione Granger, the one with many male best friends, and specifically the one best male friend that she was _not_ in love with, at all, nope, not in the least.

She had to be close to him, as if they were in the intimatest of relationships, sharing everything, but not really. Everyone thought that there was something between them, but Hermione had always laughed it away, saying that they were just best friends. 

Even Draco had jokingly introduced her to his old friends as his girlfriend. They had a big fight after that, with Hermione proclaiming that he can’t do that, ending a long tirade with a quiet “You can’t play with my heart that way”, that she thought he hadn’t heard. 

After that, their friendship wasn’t as easy going as before, and the thing that Hermione had dreaded - losing her friendship with Draco - had started to slowly become reality. Only thing was, that she had thought she would lose him if she confessed her love, but now she was losing him anyway, and she didn’t even know why. 

In an effort to save her heart, she had started to look into moving overseas for one year, possibly taking on a mission to research how magical creatures were treated on different continents. She had not told Draco about it. 

She was going to tell him tonight, at the New Years Party that Harry was throwing at Grimmauld place. The party that she _really_ didn’t want to go to. But what choice did she have?

  
  


..:..::**::..:..

  
  


When she arrived, the party was at full blast. She had chosen to really dress up for the occasion, donning a full length black dress with a slit on one side and a high neck. She really felt good, she felt pretty, and she still held out some hope that Draco would notice her in a way that was more than just best friends. 

Everyone greeted her happily, and she couldn’t help but get caught up in the happy atmosphere and excitement of what a new year could bring. For her, the celebration of ending a year and welcoming a new one had always held a hopeful feeling that anything was possible. 

This year though, she knew that her heart would be broken.

As she worked her way through the party, she finally saw him. 

Merlin, he was beautiful. He was gorgeous in his black muggle suit that she had helped pick out for him two months ago, when the talk of New Year celebrations had started. Before they started to drift away from each other. 

As she took him in, she suddenly noticed an equally gorgeous leggy blonde on his arm. Her long silky hair flowing down her back where he was holding on to her, as he spoke quietly in her ear, making her laugh. 

In that moment, Hermione felt as if she had turned into dust. It had started with her heart cracking, then her very soul had shivered and she felt as if she had been slowly blown away by the wind. 

After that there was only emptiness. Her ears muffled from the sounds around her, she started walking as if in a daze. Eventually she had found a sofa along the back wall, away from the main party, - Harry and Ginny had somehow managed to expand the interior of Grimmauld Place for one night. 

..:..::**::..:..

Draco had noticed her immediately. As soon as she had walked in, it was as if every atom of his being had attuned to her presence, and his eyes had found her - the most perfect being in the world. She was a vision, always so beautiful, but tonight she was making his soul ache. Why did she not want him? They were perfect for each other in every sense of the word. He truly believed that they were meant to be, but no matter what he did to gain her attention to start something between them, something more than friendship, she seemed to push his efforts away as nothing more than him being silly. 

He had even straight up told people that she was his girlfriend, but that had only resulted in a fight that had brought them to an awkward place in their friendship. 

But he had heard her whispered, “You can’t play with my heart that way”, and that had ignited a hope within him. He was a coward though, not wanting to come out straight and confess his love for her, instead pushing to make her jealous so that she could confront her feelings and confess instead. 

He had asked Astoria Greengrass to help him with the scheme, knowing that she would do anything to help, since he had worked to break their marriage contract so that she could be with her long-time love Geraldine, whom she had met and fallen in love with when she had gotten transferred to Beauxbatons at the beginning of the war. Astoria and Geraldine were about to be happily married this upcoming summer, and they were already great moms to a boy they had adopted last year. Draco had never told Hermione about Astoria, other than that they used to be betrothed. 

When he had noticed Hermione looking at him, he had whispered in Astoria’s ear that it was showtime, but he had seen Hermione’s face fall immediately, and his breath hitched.

It was as if he could see her heart crumbling in front of him, and he knew that he had made a mistake. He never wanted to hurt her, he _loved_ her more than anything else in this world, but as usual his cowardice had ruined everything. He immediately knew what he needed to do, - he needed to find his inner Gryffindor, his inner _Hermione,_ and scream his love for her to the whole world, but more importantly, to her. 

In a blink of an eye, she had disappeared from his view, and he quickly excused himself to Astoria, saying that he needed to find Hermione and fix his mess. 

..:..::**::..:..

Hermione was distraught. She hadn’t really wanted to move abroad, but now she didn’t have a choice. How could she live her life, knowing that the man she loved more than anything, had given his heart to someone else. Someone perfect and beautiful, probably Pureblood, that would give him perfect little Pureblood children. She saw her future hopes of blonde curly-haired, grey-eyed babies just vanish. Early mornings with Draco in bed, indulging in each other’s bodies, gone. The dream of growing old with your best friend, _poof_ , no more. 

She was going to say a quiet Happy New Year to him, and goodbye. Tomorrow she would tell the Minister that she was accepting the job. 

He found her as she was sitting there in the corner of the back wall, silently crying over her lost opportunity of love with her soulmate, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. 

He cleared his throat to get her attention, and to still his fast beating heart. He had thought that he’d lost her, thinking that she’d already left the party. He wanted to confess his feelings in this old year, so that they could start the new year the right way: together. 

She quickly got a hold of herself, wiping her tears from her cheeks, and plastering on a smile, - getting into the role she had played for the better part of a year. 

“Draco, hi” she said with a practiced chirp to her tone. She couldn’t help but to beam up at his presence, even though her heart was aching. 

“Hi Hermione,” he said gently, with a soft smile gracing his face.

“What are you doing over here in the corner sweet girl?” he asked, and she looked down sadly, wringing her hands in her lap. 

“Draco, I can’t do this anymore,'' she said with a sigh.

“I’m going to leave soon, but I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year, and tell you that I’m leaving the country in the next few days. I’ve taken a position overseas on the request of the Minister” she lied. 

Draco’s heart got stuck in his throat. “ _What?!”_ he said, “You’re _leaving_ me?!”.

She looked up at his shocked proclamation, and couldn’t help but to get angry at the forlorn look on his face “Draco, what do you care!? You have your perfect Pureblood girlfriend to keep you company and be your new best friend” she yelled.

_Oh fuck._ His plan to make her jealous had worked a little _too_ well. 

“Hermione, it’s not like that,'' he started to say, but she had risen up to her feet, and was advancing on him now, “don’t you dare say it’s not like that, I saw the look you were sharing with her,” she finally choked on a sob, the tears she had forced to be silent earlier, forcing their way out. Her broken heart wailing in despair.

He ran forward, taking her in his arms and sliding them into the sofa.

“Sweet love, I promise I was stupid, it’s not like that, Astoria is just here to make you jealous. I’m sorry for hurting you, I never want to hurt you. Hermione, I love you”.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, he _loved_ her?

She burrowed into his tightened embrace as he started soothing her with sweet words whispered in her ears. 

_How beautiful she was._

_How brilliant she was._

_How much he loved her._

_How he wanted her so badly._

“Please don’t leave me Hermione, I can’t be without you. You’re my best friend” he said as he looked into her tear-filled eyes. 

“You big prat, why would you do something like that to me. When I saw you with her, my whole world shattered. Do you know how hard it has been to keep an emotional distance from you, when all I wanted was to hold you and kiss you, and never let you go?” she kept crying. 

“I thought I’ve been spared seeing you with other girls, but tonight I realized just how lucky I was that I never had to see you hold another woman the way I want you to hold me”

“I’m sorry my love, for being a prat. If you forgive me, I’ll forgive you for thinking that I’d go after a woman simply because she was a Pureblood.” When he said that, Hermione gasped, slightly hating herself for ever thinking that about a man that she knew so well. That she knew would never follow the old prejudiced way of his forefathers. 

“Oh, I’m sorry Draco” she said despairingly. “We both seem to be such fools.”

“Well, we are fools in love” he said with a wicked sparkle in his eyes. He was elated, holding Hermione close in his arms, where she belonged. He had heard her confessed love, _she loved him back_ , and he was determined to make truth of her wish of never letting go of each other. 

“If you take that job, I’m going with you, I don’t care if they want to throw me back to Azkaban. It’s not breaking probation if I follow you to do the same job I do here, but overseas”

She stopped his rant with her hand on his lips, “Draco, I lied, I never applied, the Minister doesn’t care whether I leave or go” she said, “I was just so heartbroken, thinking that I’d have to see you fall in love with someone else.”

“Hermione, there’s no one else for me but you. How could there ever be? You are my best friend, and my soulmate”

If his other sweet words hadn’t affirmed her belief that he loved her, - that this was really happening, then his confession that she was his soulmate, that he also felt their deep connection really set her mind at ease.

She couldn’t help but to grab him by his collar, and kiss him feverishly, all those pent up emotions coming out in the most earth shattering kiss, that seemed to set their world straight. 

The two lovers were hidden back in a dark corner in Grimmauld Place, with roaming hands all over each others bodies.

Draco’s hands were sliding over Hermione’s arse, over her breasts, over all the places that he longed to touch. He gently pushed his way under her dress, sliding up to her most intimate place, finding her knickers completely soaked as he pushed them aside to explore all the ways that he could make her gasp and moan.

Hermione’s hands were sliding over his shoulders, his strong chest, down over the prominent bulge in his pants, and she quickly opened the zipper of his suit pants, so that she could caress his hard length and make him feel the same euphoria that he was building up inside of her.

As they were bringing each other close to the brink, the clock struck midnight and they were whisked into a new year.

A year full of promises and of love.

The first of many years to come - spent together. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year dear readers!!
> 
> Here is a one-shot I quickly put together to celebrate the turn of a decade!
> 
> I also got inspired when I saw that my story "Missed Opportunities and Predictable Behavior" had reached over 100 kudos! 
> 
> THANK YOU from the bottom of my Slytherin heart 💚


End file.
